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A four-fold increase in the number of fines issued under the “busybody charter” has been described as “utterly alarming”, with councils cracking down on activities such as feeding birds, walking dogs and playing loud bhangra music.

The number of penalties issued under Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) legislation by councils across the country has shot up from 470 in 2015 to 1,906 in 2016.

The orders, which were introduced in 2014, were intended to clamp down on threatening or violent behaviour. But they have been used in some areas to outlaw lucky charms, chalk drawings, singing and, in one case, carrying a golf bag. One council even proposed a PSPO to ban sheep from entering a village.

Campaigners against over-regulation have said the legislation is part of a worrying trend towards criminalising everyday life.

Kensington and Chelsea has a PSPO which bans a range of driving behaviour during "supercar season" Credit:
central

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Tim Clement-Jones said it was "utterly alarming" that the powers were being used to restrict freedom of expression "in an unprecedented way".

Fresh data obtained by the Press Association through a series of freedom of information requests to the 348 councils that implement PSPOs reveals the vast array of offences that people have been punished for.

Kensington and Chelsea has a PSPO which bans a range of driving behaviour during "supercar season" when owners, often from oil-rich Middle Eastern states, bring their vehicles to the capital for the summer.

In June 2016, the driver of a white Mercedes C63 was fined £100 for "playing loud bhangra music" and anther driver was penalised for "performing stunts (filming)" in their vehicle.

Hillingdon council – which issued 726 fines over the past two years – can punish people for offences including spitting on the floor, gathering in groups of two or more unless walking to or from a vehicle, using skateboards or rollerblades, leaving a car engine running, having a barbecue, being in charge of more than six dogs, and feeding birds.

The result is a patchwork of vague, absurd criminal law, which people do not understand and which cannot be enforced with any consistencyJosie Appleton, director of the Manifesto Club

In Southampton there were 30 fines levied for begging in 2016, for which the penalty is £100. The Green Party has accused Oxford Council of harassing the homeless with warnings they could be fined up to £2,500 for leaving their belongings in doorways.

Josie Appleton, director of the Manifesto Club which campaigns against over-regulation, said that PSPOs are a "blank cheque" for arbitrary use of power by local authorities.

"Councils were at first slow to use PSPOs, but now the powers are being whipped out in response to a wide variety of local disputes or problems,” she said. "The result is a patchwork of vague, absurd criminal law, which people do not understand and which cannot be enforced with any consistency."

Simon Blackburn, chairman of the Local Government Association's safer and stronger communities board, defended PSPOs as an "effective way" of tackling "persistent anti-social behaviour problems raised by local residents and businesses". He added: "These are serious issues that make the lives of victims a misery - in some cases with tragic consequences."